Attorney Marc Zell; Photo credit: Honenu
Wednesday, October 2, 2024, 12:14 Yesterday (Tuesday), a hearing was held at the Central District Court in Lod for two Shomron residents who were detained on Sunday for four months under administrative orders signed by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Both of the residents were detained last week by the Yehuda and Shomron Police.
The orders were served shortly before a court hearing at which they were expected to be released from remand. One of the detainees is married and has a small daughter. Attorney Marc Zell and Honenu Attorney Moshe Poleski are representing the detainees.
Attorney Zell stated, “At the hearing, we explained the unusual circumstances of this detention. The Defense Minister has issued a large number of administrative orders during his term in office and turned emergency regulations into an alternative to criminal proceedings. The intent is purely to punish my client without presenting evidence or granting him a trial as is customary under a democratic government.”
Honenu Attorney Moshe Poleski; Photo credit: Honenu
Attorney Poleski, representing one of the detainees, added, “Administrative detentions are a black stain on Israeli democracy. At the hearing, it turned out that the GSS had not taken the trouble to warn my client before his detention or to examine a more proportional option. Thus my client, a married man and father of a small girl, was sent to detention on the eve of the High Holidays without the opportunity to defend himself. This is a disgrace. The authorities are now behaving similar to undemocratic states in which a free citizen can suddenly be imprisoned for months without a trial. We hope that the court will refuse to take part in such severe violations of fundamental human rights.”
Leading up to the hearing, Attorney Zell strongly criticized the use of administrative orders against Yehuda and Shomron residents: “Administrative detention orders are a catastrophic violation of fundamental rights and democracy. The measure is illegal in most democratic countries. It is unacceptable to put an individual in remand without proof of criminal guilt and without giving him the opportunity to defend himself from the charges against him.”
He added, “The use of administrative orders in Israel against Yehuda and Shomron residents has increased alarmingly, destructively, and undemocratically during Defense Minister Gallant’s term in office. I will ask the court to refuse to take part in trampling fundamental human rights and to put an end to the discriminatory use of arbitrary detention orders against Israeli citizens,” concluded Attorney Zell.
At this time, Attorney Marc Zell is waging a legal battle in America against the sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on American and Israeli citizens.